This post is a quick summary of what the USD116 “Facilities Committee” achieved up to now, and what its actions would mean for the district in the future. TL;DR: it will affect all of us, and not in a good way.
The administration and staff on the committee want the Wiley building for a 6th grade center, which will, as the name suggests, accommodate all kids entering the Middle school for a year, before continuing, for two years, at the Urbana middle school.
The Superintendent is very open about it, and their people are are pushing hard. This means the decision is preordained: the members directly reporting to the Superintendent form the majority of the committee.
The administration insists that five elementary schools remaining after Wiley is closed and rededicated as the sixth grade center are enough for all K-5 students, with plenty of room to spare.1The very same admin crew claimed that the Spanish DL program fits into Leal, with room to grow, a claim ultimately deemed false.
A few concerned members of the committee (and their community helpers) tested those claims and found that they are false, unless one is ready to change the class sizes and teaching quality.
For next year, we expect King to have class sizes of 27-29, starting in 2nd grade; YR will most likely have an overflow; DPW will continue having its chronic overflow, and TP will have class sizes of over 25 starting in 2nd grade. With the other schools so full, Leal will be the new destination for the overflows. We expect Leal to absorb over 30 students from DPW next year.
Our analysis assumes enrollment trends in Kindergarten, – the main incoming grade, – continue as in the past 6 years (not counting remote learning). If so, while it may be possible to place the students into the 5 schools, it will come at the expense of significant increases in class sizes. Thus, classes with 25-30 students will become the norm in grades 2-5, at all elementary schools of the district, Leal, Yankee Ridge and so on. All the schools except King will be running at the administrative cap of 450 students in the building.
This, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone: fewer classrooms in elementary schools means higher class sizes. Whichever mental contortions the administration undertakes, the basic arithmetic (of the kind they consistently fail to teach our kids) is still our reality.
On the brighter side, the administration hastened to point out, to squeeze elementary population into five schools and larger classes also means savings, – on teacher’s salaries. They emphasize though, that only contingent, non-tenured faculty will be affected 2in spirit of equity and solidarity, of course.
If (when) the Spanish DL program gets its own building (most likely DPW, with no priority to any attendance zone), Leal and other spared elementary schools will be bursting at the seams.
What is happening at the facilities committee is not only about Wiley. All schools are going to be affected. This bell tolls for thee, too.